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Home Improvement Thread

I laid it out on the ground tonight, and decided on a slight redesign! I will relay it out in a few days after the snow we are supposed to get tomorrow night goes away. I was sticking flags in the ground, and they would only go in an inch because the ground is so frozen.....

I talked to my bro-in-law who owns the auger. You can get bits long enough if the rental agency has them.
 
Anyone have any input on hardwood floor for homes with a dog?

My amazing father in-law showed my awesome wife how easy it is to install hardwood floors, so apparently that's my next fun project once I'm done with my current fun project of remodeling my entire kitchen.

I'm just the luckiest guy in the world!

Anyways - concerns are water spots from dripping dog mouth and scratching up the floor such that I have to refinish it and crap every few years. If there's a specific kind of floor that is designed to combat those issues then that'll take priority over the other items when picking out the floor.

I'm going to do some research but figured someone here has to have already done that kind of thing before :)
 
I just did hardwood in my bedroom recently. It ****ing sucks. When you first get going, you think wow this is a breeze, I'll be done in no time. Then you get to doors, ends that require cuts, etc, and it killlllllls time. Oh, the tap block and pull bar they will assuredly try to sell you - buy them. If you do like me and think you can just use a hammer or something and save money, you'll still end up going back to buy it like I begrudgingly did.

Nothing you can do about the dogs as far as I know. If anyone sells anything they claim prevents scuffs and scratches, I wouldn't waste the money. As far as the drool goes, it won't do any damage. No more than mopping would do, which you have to do once in a while.
 
I just did hardwood in my bedroom recently. It ****ing sucks. When you first get going, you think wow this is a breeze, I'll be done in no time. Then you get to doors, ends that require cuts, etc, and it killlllllls time. Oh, the tap block and pull bar they will assuredly try to sell you - buy them. If you do like me and think you can just use a hammer or something and save money, you'll still end up going back to buy it like I begrudgingly did.

Nothing you can do about the dogs as far as I know. If anyone sells anything they claim prevents scuffs and scratches, I wouldn't waste the money. As far as the drool goes, it won't do any damage. No more than mopping would do, which you have to do once in a while.

Good old father in law has the tools :) I have a craftsman father and father in-law. I'm lucky like that. I get free advice, sometimes free help, and can borrow pretty much any tool I could need. Including a tractor and jacks for a house, hah!

Anyways, yeah I'm concerned about scratches and water dripping because my dog drinks half a bowl of water then walks around while it drips everywhere. I'm kind of resigning myself to the fact that I'll just have to do regular maintenance on them to keep them looking nice.
 
I just got done putting in LED rope light under the cabinets and over them. I have them controlled with a touch switch under the cabinets as well. If any body wants to buy LED rope lights I have the best websites to get it, and the channel to run it in. Good thing I kept all that info when I went from being a residential electrician to a commercial one!

photo (16).jpg
 
Good old father in law has the tools :) I have a craftsman father and father in-law. I'm lucky like that. I get free advice, sometimes free help, and can borrow pretty much any tool I could need. Including a tractor and jacks for a house, hah!

Anyways, yeah I'm concerned about scratches and water dripping because my dog drinks half a bowl of water then walks around while it drips everywhere. I'm kind of resigning myself to the fact that I'll just have to do regular maintenance on them to keep them looking nice.
I know all about tools, I have so many tools that I'm seriously going to build a shed to hold more, because my garage is overloaded. I'm one of those guys that will buy every top name tool that comes out just in case I ever need it, because I've got a problem :laugh:

Honestly, the tools for hardwood were tools I never knew existed, which is why I didn't have them. But you need a chainlink fence built, cut apart, redone? I have the tools for that. And I've never used any of them lol.

As far as the water concerns, you won't have to worry about water that's actually on the surface of the wood, because it's so heavily treated, sealed and glazed over that the water will never get through to the wood, and if it does it's harmless. The only thing that might make it dicey is the connection seams. But they sell wood putty type stuff to seal those, and it comes in every color and texture, so water is seriously not the concern you would think it could be. Unless you buy bargain basement laminate flooring, then it's screwed no matter what.

As far as the scratching goes, that's just unavoidable unless you go with a composite material, which costs significantly more. Some I saw were $20 per sq ft, and that's just crazy insane. If you haven't made your purchase yet, check out Lumber Liquidators: Hardwood Floors For Less! they have crazy good deals, some to the point you wonder if it's stolen it's so cheap.

You want a really good deal? Tell 'em Large Marge sent ya :laugh:
 
Anyways, yeah I'm concerned about scratches and water dripping because my dog drinks half a bowl of water then walks around while it drips everywhere. I'm kind of resigning myself to the fact that I'll just have to do regular maintenance on them to keep them looking nice.


I put prefinished bamboo in a house I built before. It is very hard and holds up well. I lived in that house for 2 years, and never had an issue with it. If I remember right it wasn't to expensive.

The second house I built, I put in new growth pine, and did a waterlux finish on it. The good thing about that is when it gets dinged or scratched there is no poly to chip off. It is a stain that soaks in the wood and seals it. That to was very durable for a soft wood, and with the dings and scratches it gave it more character. As a matter of fact after I laid it, I would throw chains on it to give it a distressed look before the finish was put on.
 
I just got done putting in LED rope light under the cabinets and over them. I have them controlled with a touch switch under the cabinets as well. If any body wants to buy LED rope lights I have the best websites to get it, and the channel to run it in. Good thing I kept all that info when I went from being a residential electrician to a commercial one!

View attachment 1244

Yes, please. i'm going to look into it. My only concern is what kind of circuit they need? I have a 15 amp running my garbage disposal and I was hoping I could just tap off that, but maybe there's a smarter way. I haven't started looking into it yet. It'll be the last thing I do for the kitchen and I'm a ways from that.
 
Yes, please. i'm going to look into it. My only concern is what kind of circuit they need? I have a 15 amp running my garbage disposal and I was hoping I could just tap off that, but maybe there's a smarter way. I haven't started looking into it yet. It'll be the last thing I do for the kitchen and I'm a ways from that.


Buy the rope light here, this is 150' spool with 6 different hookups. Remember when you put this together LED's are polarity sensitive! Christmas Lighting LED Rope Light 150ft White II with Connector - TheLaShop

Here is the channel for it. Trust me it is well worth the cost, I have run 1000's of feet of the stuff and this is the ticket! Rope Light Mounting Track 4 Feet - Novelty Lights Inc

As far as power consumption, 150' of LED rope light uses 81 watts. That is nothing lol
 
Buy the rope light here, this is 150' spool with 6 different hookups. Remember when you put this together LED's are polarity sensitive! Christmas Lighting LED Rope Light 150ft White II with Connector - TheLaShop

Here is the channel for it. Trust me it is well worth the cost, I have run 1000's of feet of the stuff and this is the ticket! Rope Light Mounting Track 4 Feet - Novelty Lights Inc

As far as power consumption, 150' of LED rope light uses 81 watts. That is nothing lol

I'm not familiar with what a garbage disposal runs but I'm assuming it doesn't need all 15 amps... just don't want some goofy setup where you have to turn off the rope lights to use the disposal lol.

Gracias!
 
Oh, isn't one track under a cabinet enough? I'll be posting pics before I do it, so maybe that'll help.
 
I'm not familiar with what a garbage disposal runs but I'm assuming it doesn't need all 15 amps... just don't want some goofy setup where you have to turn off the rope lights to use the disposal lol.

Gracias!
A disposal runs 5 amps if it's 1/4 HP and over 8 amps if it's 1/3 HP. In most cases, it's on the same circuit as the dishwasher, so unless it's on a different circuit, you don't want to add anything to it unless you want to be constantly flipping the breaker. My kitchen had a 15 amp breaker that would trip if you had the oven and microwave going at the same time, and the problem was easy to solve. I went up to Lowe's, bought a 20 amp breaker, took the cover off of my fuse box, pulled the fuse, and put the new one on the bar. If you don't know what you're doing though, have someone do it for you. That bar is so energized it can pull you in if you get too close and fry you. There's no oops with it, and there's no need to do it yourself if you aren't knowledgeable with it.
 
A disposal runs 5 amps if it's 1/4 HP and over 8 amps if it's 1/3 HP. In most cases, it's on the same circuit as the dishwasher, so unless it's on a different circuit, you don't want to add anything to it unless you want to be constantly flipping the breaker. My kitchen had a 15 amp breaker that would trip if you had the oven and microwave going at the same time, and the problem was easy to solve. I went up to Lowe's, bought a 20 amp breaker, took the cover off of my fuse box, pulled the fuse, and put the new one on the bar. If you don't know what you're doing though, have someone do it for you. That bar is so energized it can pull you in if you get too close and fry you. There's no oops with it, and there's no need to do it yourself if you aren't knowledgeable with it.

disposal and dishwasher are on separate circuits, so as long as I don't overdraw what I get with new led lights under the cabinets and a new disposal i imagine i'll be fine.

btw... did you make sure the wire on that circuit can handle a 20 amp breaker before switching it? the wiring should have been run correctly, but in my experience making that assumption is dangerous... even 'professionals' seem to cut corners or otherwise not know what they're doing...

I ask because swapping out a 15 amp circuit breaker for a 20 amp circuit breaker, but not checking the wire, is a serious fire risk. if the wire was designed for 15 amps and you just swap the breaker, you're now overloading the wire and causing it to run hotter... if you know all that, then :cheers: - just wanted to check :)

I think the code in VA today requires them all to run wire that can handle 20 amps. I think that's mainly because home owners would just swap 15 amp breakres for 20 amp, without checking/replacing the wire, and they'd burn their frekin house down. But older homes (read 5-10 year+) may very well have higher gauge wire run for 15 amp circuits and just swapping the breaker is dangerous. I think that code change is recent. But I'm way out of my element here, so I may be wrong.

But it seems like 'back in the day' they'd run 14 gauge for 15 amp circuits because the wire was cheaper and it made sense - that's all you need. Otherwise they'd run 12 gauge for 20 amp circuits. It's not a problem unless someone goes swapping the 15 amp breakers for 20 amp breakers and doesn't upgrade the wire on the circuit from 14 to 12 gauge.

I have a family members that made a very rich living because people did stuff like that and burned their houses down. So make sure that wire is 12 gauge...
 
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Also an oven should be on a 220 circuit, wtf is it doing on a 15 amp circuit?!
 
Yeah, I know. When this house was built in 1976, they did many things stupid. One thing they did get right, was allowing for expansion and upgrades to parts of the electrical system. The wiring was done with 6-3 wire, and that stuff is rated for 55 amps. I can't see ever needing to put that much amperage on a circuit for any reason. The big draws like the heat pump and stuff are on their own 60 amp circuits.

I actually learned a ton about electrical work when I was a landscaper, because my boss was a retired electrical engineer who worked for the government for 30 years, and he insisted on making us do as much electrical work as possible for years. I didn't complain, because I always love learning new skills.
 
Also an oven should be on a 220 circuit, wtf is it doing on a 15 amp circuit?!
I think you're confusing volts and amps. Most ovens are hardwired, mine isn't. Older house. Even the newer and larger double ovens with all the bells and whistles run on a 30A breaker. My oven is basic. The kind with nothing special, and old school removable burners lol. The 15A would have been fine without a microwave, which wasn't an issue in 1976 when the house was built.
 
I think you're confusing volts and amps. Most ovens are hardwired, mine isn't. Older house. Even the newer and larger double ovens with all the bells and whistles run on a 30A breaker. My oven is basic. The kind with nothing special, and old school removable burners lol. The 15A would have been fine without a microwave, which wasn't an issue in 1976 when the house was built.
well i know the 220 is in volts, but I didn't think you could get 220 volts out of a 15 amp circuit. I'm not an electrician though, and am out of my element a bit :)

I also believe you can run your oven on less, but it's going to be more inefficient if you do.

But yeah, I know enough to know I don't know much and that's about it :)
 
well i know the 220 is in volts, but I didn't think you could get 220 volts out of a 15 amp circuit. I'm not an electrician though, and am out of my element a bit :)
Most breakers in the average house are single pole, but a double pole breaker pushes you up to 240 volts and keeps you on a 15 or 20A breaker, whichever you choose. People just don't like using them because they take more space and cost a little more.

I also believe you can run your oven on less, but it's going to be more inefficient if you do.
I use my oven way too often to make it less efficient. I want a serious upgrade, but the sticker shock of good ovens made me go a year without even walking into an appliance aisle :laugh:

But yeah, I know enough to know I don't know much and that's about it :)
A lot of people don't, that's why electricians can charge such crazy prices. But they earn it, I wouldn't want their job.
 
Oh, isn't one track under a cabinet enough? I'll be posting pics before I do it, so maybe that'll help.
photo 2 (4).jpgphoto 1 (4).JPG
sorry for the funny angles of the pictures lol


Yeah I ran one under each, and fished a power drop down to each side of the stove through the dead spaces between cabinets. I plugged my power pack for the touch switch into the the Microwave Rec above the stove. You could do the same if you have a similar set up.
 

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